COUNTY’S NEW-CAR SALES HAVE REVVED UP

At current pace, local dealers will top pre-recession levels

Percent gain in light vehicle sales

San Diego County U.S.

New cars: 8.6 percent 5.5 percent

Light trucks: 11.1 percent 12.2 percent

New-car sales in San Diego County are on pace this year to hit pre-Great Recession levels.

Data released Friday by the San Diego County New Car Dealers Association shows that through May, San Diegans have bought 54,660 new cars and light trucks, a 9.5 percent gain over the same time period in 2012. If that pace continues, dealers would sell 138,594 vehicles in 2013, surpassing the 2007 total of 136,137, just before the sharp economic decline.

Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego, said the boost coincides with a national trend. He noted record-low interest rates, including some dealerships offering 0 percent 60-month car loans.

“What I think you’re seeing is some sort of pent-up demand going on,” Gin said. “During the downturn, people drove their cars longer, and so now that things are getting better, they’re going out there and replacing their cars.”

Auto sales are continuing a steady climb since they bottomed out at 77,707 in 2009.

Last year’s 126,570 new cars sold was a jump of 27,315 over the 2011 total. It was also the first year since 2008 that new car sales surpassed 100,000 in the county.

Amy Foley, a spokeswoman for the association, said she was pleased with the May sales data.

“We see these numbers as all positive for us, and we anticipate this trend continuing,” Foley said.

The dealers association in March projected a smaller year-over-year gain from 2012 to 2013 due to economic uncertainties over ongoing federal spending cuts via sequestration, and the end of the payroll tax holiday. The March projection, the latest available, forecasts new car dealers would see an 8 percent bump in 2013 to 136,750 new cars sold. The association will update its projection in its second quarter report, to be released in July.

Toyota has dominated the local industry through May 2013, selling 10,918 vehicles for 20 percent of the market share. Ford is second, with 6,501 new cars and light trucks sold. Honda is third, with 6,219 new vehicles sold so far this year.